Reviewing records can really make you go away and trace their lineage, legacy and impact, listening to their influences and the bands that have followed immediately in their wake. They seem as comfortable with their position as they do with their sound, and their progress has been a smooth, slow - but definitely upwards - curve.
Mazes apparently love Times New Viking, and this album goes hand in hand with ‘A Thousand Heys’ as a complimentary component of a summery diptych, and I'm sure I'll enjoy them in tandem over the coming months. I won’t enjoy them equally, though, as the Mazes record is much better; it’s starkly clear to hear the differences between a band making their fifth album (for the biggest label yet) compared to the sound of a band making their first record, flush with the ideas and inspiration that entails.
This is a much subtler, more layered, and better produced LP than any of Times New Viking’s previous output, but I’m not convinced it is in fact a progression. Their last LP was not as attention grabbing as those that went before, and the mellowing of their admittedly ferocious recorded sound has not been matched by a consistent development in songwriting. Certainly there has been a refining of the recording technique from album to album, but all their discography will sound as if it was written at the same time when played live.
I think they reached the peak of their powers a couple of years ago, over the time spanned by the ‘Rip It Off’ album and the single Call And Respond. They really nailed the balance between super-catchy songs and powerfully blown out recording around that time.
Some of the songs here are similar in style and execution to their previous greats, but they don't posses the same marriage of sonic force and joyous singalong. A lot of the songs are more subdued: Ever Falling In Love, No Room To Live, Downtown Eastern Bloc and Don't Go To Liverpool are much more melancholic than almost any of TNV’s previous output, and do show off more accomplished songcraft.
Somebody’s Slave is the real highlight, an immediately arresting drum intro kicks into a simple guitar phrase before the familiar, melodic male/female duet takes over, but the song is propelled by a different kind of momentum than the brute force of before. If all the album had been of this ilk it would have been a real validation of a band progressing. As it happens ‘Dancer Enquired’ just makes Times New Viking sound a bit jaded and